From Revenue to HBC

THE MASSIVE loss of staff at the Revenue Commissioners through early retirement before December’s budget seems to be the private sector’s gain.

One such example of this is the appointment of the former head of the Revenue’s insolvency unit, Finian Loftus, to accountancy firm Horwath Bastow Charleton (HBC).

The appointment is all the more interesting in that it was spearheaded by Brian McEnery, one of the principals at HBC in the firm’s Limerick office and a board member of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

Loftus has been hired by McEnery (who is also president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) as an insolvency consultant as the firm pushes for more business in examinerships, liquidations and receiverships.

Loftus will work with two senior HBC figures, Eoin Ryan and Aiden Murphy, who are running the Dublin office.

Clearly, there will be plenty of work emanating from Nama over the coming months, though McEnery, a prominent figure with Fine Gael in Limerick, will have to stand aside from any potential appointments coming from that quarter.

However, his role on the Nama board does not preclude his colleagues at HBC from being appointed to insolvent companies owing large sums to the agency.

Loftus worked in taxation, company audit and insolvency before heading up the Collector General’s insolvency unit.